In Matter of Morris Investors v. Commissioner of Fin. of City of N. Y. (69 NY2d 933 [1987]) the Court observed that " CPLR 205 (a), a remedial provision protecting the right of litigants who have given timely notice of the assertion of their claims, 'has its roots in the distant past' ; 'its broad and liberal purpose is not to be frittered away by any narrow construction.'